Balloons in my Basket
by BlackShock95
Summary: Pinkie Pie goes to say one last goodbye to her friends, and comes to accept the truth


**Just a little thing I threw together. I've been seeing a lot of those real sad fics all over the place, so I decided to try my hand at one. Yes, this was inspired in part by the song 'Balloons in my Basket' but I just think its a cool title too. check it out if you haven't heard it. Now read and don't laugh at my horrible writing skills.  
**

**Balloons in my Basket**

Pinkie Pie passed an order of a dozen blueberry muffins to Dinky Hooves with her signature smile. The years had worn the pink earth pony down, grayed her mane, and left her wrinkled and frail, but her smile never faded. She stole a glance at the clock on the left wall of Sugarcube Corner. Seven o' clock, time to close the pastry shop once again. Pinkie walked slowly over to the door, where she closed it gently, and with some difficulty locked it. As she made her way back to the counter, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake walked out from the kitchen, each carrying a tray of freshly baked goods. Wondering as to why there were no ponies other than themselves and Pinkie Pie, the twins looked at the clock.

"Oops," began Pumpkin Cake, a sheepish grin forming on her face. "I always manage to lose track of time while we're baking."

Pound Cake frowned slightly, rustling his wings. "We're going to have to throw these away."

"Don't be silly!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie indignantly. "You were using my recipe, right?"

The unicorn and pegasus nodded in unison.

"Then they should be fine until tomorrow!" continued Pinkie. "We can sell them for two bits instead of four."

"If you say so," said Pound Cake, looking a bit unsure.

The aged earth pony grabbed a rainbow colored cupcake and took a small bite from it. "Delicious. I think one of these days you two might actually surpass me at baking!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Pumpkin Cake almost shouted. "Nopony is better than you in the kitchen! You're the one who came up with more than half of these delicious pastries! I don't think we'd be here today without you."

Pinkie's smile faded just a little bit. "You're right," she said, now looking at her cupcake with a distant nostalgia, sighing. "But I'm not going to be around for much longer now, am I?"

The Cake twins shared a concerned glance, but remained silent. Pinkie Pie continued staring into the cupcake, as though searching for some distant memory. Finally, slowly, she stood up and sighed once more. "I need to go do something important. Can you two take care of putting everything in order?"

Pound Cake opened his mouth in protest, but his sister silenced him with a shake of her head. "Of course, Pinkie Pie. If you need anything, just holler."

The former party pony just gave the two a melancholy smile and slowly made her way up to her room. She opened the door to her room, which still looked the same as it did all those years ago, when all of her friends were still around. Pinkie wasn't sure whether she was glad that she still had some remnant of the past left in her life, or if it was a sign that she wasn't able to move on from those times and was desperately clinging to slowly fading memories. After a few minutes of deep thinking and making up her mind, Pinkie Pie busied herself looking for balloons, some string, a basket, and a few other things.

Five minutes later, the pony was walking up a hill near the outskirts of Ponyville. She had made a beeline for this certain hill as fast as her aged body would allow her to, only stopping to pick up some flowers from Rose's daughter, Bluebell.

Reaching the top of the hill, Pinkie looked at the five markers arranged in a circle, each depicting the cutie mark of the pony lying underneath. Apples, butterflies, diamonds, a cloud with a bolt of lightning, and a pink star surrounded by five others.

The remaining pony suddenly felt breathless. "H-hey girls," she began, tearing up slightly. "I've come to a decision." Pinkie took a deep, shuddering breath. "I-I'm not going to be able to visit you anymore. I've been thinking about it for a while now, and it's time for me to let go. I got you each one last present though." The tears were flowing freely now. On Applejacks marker Pinkie set the cowpony's beloved stetson. Twilight's, the headdress that represented her element. Rainbows, a worn and faded Wonderbolts uniform. Fluttershy's, the flowers that Pinkie had just bought. And on Rarity's, a faded picture of the elegant unicorn with Spike, in their later years.

Pinkie laughed softly, tears still streaking her face. "Yeah, I kept these after all these years. I've also got one last thing for you all." She removed the cover from her basket and a colorful array of balloons swiftly floated out, gently carrying it away. Orange, white, cyan, lavender, and yellow blended together in a melody of colors, a reminder of days long gone. The pink pony watched as the basket floated into the distance, going wherever the wind willed it, until it was nothing more than a speck in the distance, the fading sun behind it.

"Don't you girls worry, I'll see you all soon enough." Wiping some tears from her eyes, Pinkie Pie smiled then turned and walked slowly back towards Ponyville, not looking back, day finally giving way to night.

**I feel as though this ending was weak. I didn't really know how to put it into words. Also, if anyone knows of any free programs that have the supported file formats for fanfiction, then pm me. i've been using trials. send in ideas for fics, I'll probably do it. Also, thanks to ChaoHarm for getting this damn idea stuck in my head. remember to review!**


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